Ann 88-year-old man with 'undiagnosed dementia' mounted a pavement and killed a pedestrian. William Sherlock knocked down Evelyn Fisher in the middle of town on a busy Saturday afternoon, an inquest heard.
She was walking to work when he lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa, mounted the curb and fatally injured the devoted grandmother. Evelyn, who was 61, never regained consciousness and died in hospital the following day.
Charges against Mr Sherlock of causing death by dangerous driving were dropped when he was deemed unfit to face a trial, and he has voluntarily surrendered his driving licence. Now a coroner has called on the Department of Transport to tighten up the rules on elderly drivers as a result of what she described as an "absolute tragedy".
Speaking at the inquest in Plymouth, Devon, on Monday, Deborah Archer said she would use her powers to call for a review of the policy of people 'self-reporting' medical issues to the DVLA. In her letter to the government the coroner also said there should be more regular mandatory testing of drivers aged over 80.
She added: "I appreciate that this is nothing for the family (of Ms Fisher) but it is the best I can do to try to make sure some good comes out of this terrible incident." Evelyn, who lived in Paignton, Devon, was walking to work at the Conservative Club after going into town to buy a birthday present for a friend.
The shopfront of the Big Baguette sandwich shop in Paignton was also badly damaged in the crash. Ms Archer said Mr Sherlock had mounted the pavement in Hyde Road and struck Ms Fisher causing her 'catastrophic' head injuries.
Tests showed that Mr Sherlock had not suffered any kind of medical episode at the time of the crash, but a neurological expert said he believed he had been in the early stages of undiagnosed dementia at the time of the crash on April 2 2016. Had his dementia been diagnosed, she said, Mr Sherlock would have had to have his case assessed by the DVLA.
In a statement read to the court, her daughter Andrea Vella said her mother's death had left her feeling 'empty' and 'heartbroken'. "Mum was a big part of my life," she said. "We could depend on each other. I feel so alone without her. She was the best mum. We have had an extra 20 years of life together taken away from us.
"I believe that she didn't just die - she was killed. I hope the driver feels remorse so that I can forgive him."
The inquest heard Mr Sherlock's Vauxhall Corsa had no mechanical defects and a breath test was negative. A report from PC Simon Bishop said it initially appeared that Mr Sherlock had been distracted by something after overtaking a cyclist before veering across the road.
Mr Sherlock had said he had reached up to the car's sun visor, aggravating an old injury in his arm. The car then went through a 'gentle right-hand arc' and mounted the pavement doing 22mph, police said. Ms Fisher did not have time to get out of the way.
Three medical experts examined Mr Sherlock to work out if he was fit to face trial and all said he was not. In his report, Dr Howard Faulkner said that Mr Sherlock had suffered 'vacant episodes' and 'partial seizures' as a result of his dementia, and said dementia 'increases the risk of accidents due to poor judgement'.
In his opinion, he said, Mr Sherlock was not aware of his actions at the time of accident, and gave a confused account afterwards. Dr Faulkner's report, read to the inquest by the coroner, went on: "He had never been advised to stop driving, but in my opinion he was in the early stages of undiagnosed dementia at the time."
The coroner returned a narrative conclusion at the end of the hearing, meaning the hearing simply recorded the factual circumstances of the death. Afterwards Michael Cole, Ms Fisher's partner, said she would be 'sorely missed' by him, her family and her many friends.
He added: "She was a wonderful person."
Police investigating officer MPC Nigel Cox also called for families to monitor elderly drivers. He said after the inquest: "We would ask anyone who is elderly to look at themselves, or at family members who may be at that stage of their driving where they need to think seriously about what they are doing.
"It's a really difficult thing to do, but it's a message we need to get out."
